The Minnesota Craniofacial Research Training Program is a direct response to PAR-10-170, Institutional Training for a Dental and Craniofacial Research Workforce (T90/R90), and the national need to train the next generation of biomedical scientists to work on significant problems in craniofacial, dental, and oral health research. The mission of the program is to engage trainees in novel, mentored research that is fundamental to biology and human health, and translational research that expands the frontiers and scope of craniofacial, dental, and oral health. To foster our mission and ensure strong mentorship and inter-disciplinary research training, a non-hierarchical and highly consultative administrative structure is in place. The University of Minnesota also serves as an international center for training in craniofacial, dental, and oral health research in partnership with six international dental schools in Europe, Canada and South America. Trainees engage in research training opportunities with groups of experienced, dedicated and well-supported mentors in Neuroscience, Microbiology and Immunology; Cancer Biology; Developmental Biology, Molecular Genetics, and Stem Cells; Biophysical Sciences; Nanotechnology, Materials Sciences, and Tissue Engineering; and Genomics, Proteomics, Structural Biology, and Computational Biology. Trainee T90 programmatic options include DDS/PhD (DSTP), predoctoral PhD, postdoctoral fellows, and R90 postdoctoral PhD for international dental clinicians. For non-clinician PhDs, a new program in Oral Pathobiology has been created, providing basic mechanisms with clinical correlates and hypothesis generation. The Minnesota Craniofacial Research Training program builds upon our considerable training experience, outstanding applicant pools and partnerships, new initiatives to recruit and retain DSTP fellows, and appreciation for creative mentored research training. Our alumni work at the state-of-the-art to expand the frontiers of biology and craniofacial, dental, and oral health research.